How to fix credential issue?

Question

I tried both default credential and user/pass but keep getting 401 unauthorized error. What's the fix?

Here is the error I am getting ....

New-WebServiceProxy : The request failed with HTTP status 401: Unauthorized.
At C:\Scripts\GetItemID_UsingWebServices.ps1:1 char:26
+ $WS = New-WebServiceProxy <<<<  -uri http://server/sites/promo/_vti_bin/SiteData.asmx
    + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: (http://server...n/SiteData.asmx:Uri) [New-WebServiceProxy], WebExcept
   ion
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : WebException,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.NewWebServiceProxy
Property 'Credentials' cannot be found on this object; make sure it exists and is settable.
At C:\Scripts\GetItemID_UsingWebServices.ps1:2 char:5
+ $WS. <<<< Credentials = [System.Net.CredentialCache]::DefaultCredentials
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidOperation: (Credentials:String) [], RuntimeException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : PropertyNotFound

You cannot call a method on a null-valued expression.
At C:\Scripts\GetItemID_UsingWebServices.ps1:12 char:26
+ $GUS = $WS.GetURLSegments <<<< ($ItemURL, $webID, $bucketID, $strListID, $strItemID)
    + CategoryInfo          : InvalidOperation: (GetURLSegments:String) [], RuntimeException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : InvokeMethodOnNull

Code:

$WS = New-WebServiceProxy -uri http://server/_vti_bin/SiteData.asmx
$WS.Credentials = [System.Net.CredentialCache]::DefaultCredentials
#$WS.Credentials = [System.Net.NetworkCredential]::("user", (ConvertTo-SecureString "password" -AsPlainText -force), "domain")
$ItemURL = "http://server/sites/promo/sales/testLib/TestFile.txt"
$GUS = $WS.GetURLSegments($ItemURL, $webID, $bID, $strListID, $strItemID)
Write-Host $strItemID

---

Update with new code!

This code is working (meaning at least no more 401 error). However, I am still working on it since it does not return any values for webid or bid or listid or itemid.

$webID = $null
$bID = $null
$strListID = $null
$strItemID = $null
$GUS
$uri = "http://Server/sites/Promo/TestDocLibrary44/_vti_bin/SiteData.asmx"
$WS = New-WebServiceProxy -uri $uri -UseDefaultCredential
$ItemURL = "http://Server/sites/Promot/TestDocLibrary44/2011102100006b.pdf"
$GUS = $WS.GetURLSegments($ItemURL, [REF]$webID,  [REF]$bID,  [REF]$strListID,  [REF]$strItemID)
write-Host $strItemID.value # returning null or blank
write-Host $webID # returning null or blank
Write-Host "Test "

Answer 1

I don't really know powershell but I know webservices... and I think you need to use DefaultNetworkCredentials instead of DefaultCredentials:

$WS = New-WebServiceProxy -uri http://server/sites/promo/sales/_vti_bin/SiteData.asmx
$WS.Credentials = [System.Net.CredentialCache]::DefaultNetworkCredentials
$ItemURL = "http://server/sites/promo/sales/testLib/TestFile.txt"
$GUS = $WS.GetURLSegments($ItemURL, $webID, $bID, $strListID, $strItemID)
Write-Host $strItemID

Also, make sure the account you are running this script as has access to the SharePoint site. Some webservices require higher permissions levels as well.

Answer 2

If you're going to specify the password, I believe it has to be a secure string:

$WS.Credentials = [System.Net.NetworkCredential]::("USERNAME", (ConvertTo-SecureString "PASSWORD" -AsPlainText -force))

If you're specifying a domain, I believe it needs to be as a parameter, not as a fully qualified username:

$WS.Credentials = [System.Net.NetworkCredential]::("USERNAME", (ConvertTo-SecureString "PASSWORD" -AsPlainText -force), "DOMAIN")

See MSDN: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.net.networkcredential.aspx

Answer 3

The only solution I found to this problem is to use -UseDefaultCredential, but run the script with the "run as" option. And in the run as command you specify the credentials you need to hardcode.

Answer 4

Include domain if necessary

$username = "username"  
$password = "password"

$cred = New-Object System.Management.Automation.PSCredential -ArgumentList @($username,(ConvertTo-SecureString -String $password -AsPlainText -Force))

#assign $cred to the webServicesProxy.Credentials
$webServicesProxy.Credentials = $cred

Answer 5

In PowerShell, to address the 401 Unauthorized error, I needed to incorporate CredentialCache as shown below:

Add-Type -Path "$($dllPath)\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.dll"
Add-Type -Path "$($dllPath)\Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.Runtime.dll"

$siteUrl = "https://example.fakeurl.com/path/site"

# Create SharePoint Client Context
$context = New-Object Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.ClientContext($siteUrl)

# Create NetworkCredential instance
$networkCredential = New-Object System.Net.NetworkCredential($username, $password, $domain)

# Create CredentialCache and add NetworkCredential
$credentialCache = New-Object System.Net.CredentialCache
$credentialCache.Add($siteUrl, "Negotiate", $networkCredential)

# Assign CredentialCache to ClientContext
$context.Credentials = $credentialCache

Remember to close and reopen your PowerShell session or console to clear any cached data before testing

Interestingly, in C#.NET, you don't need to use CredentialCache; System.Net.NetworkCredential alone is sufficient.

Reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/developer/webapps/iis/www-authentication-authorization/access-denied-call-web-service